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marketing ideas for dental specialists

October is the start of your fourth quarter for the year. It’s your opportunity to make it your best fourth quarter ever. To help you plan for that, today I’m sharing several ideas with you. Ideas that when implemented will keep things fresh and fun in your office. More importantly, they will exceed your patients and potential patients expectations which will allow you to focus on doing what you do best, helping your patients achieve healthy and beautiful smiles. Why? Because exceeding your patients’ expectations will help keep them loyal to your office.

Here are some fun ideas for October – I know a lot of offices are focusing on Candy Buy Back events so I will share some ideas for those events and some other ideas just in case you’re looking for something a little extra to exceed patient expectations.

Candy Buy Back:

Options:

Collect candy in office. Open to the Public

Or you can do this,

Team up w/local school(s) and set up collection bins in each classroom where the kids can bring in their candy and the classroom with the most candy wins a gift card or get a local pizzeria to donate pizza for a classroom pizza party for the winning classroom.

If you desire more help with a candy buy back event for your office, please contact me at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com for a consultation. I have had the privilege of creating & implementing candy buy back events from start to finish.

National Orthodontic Health Month~ Use this as an opportunity to promote Invisalign. This time of year people are thinking about gift ideas and want to get their smile camera-ready for the holiday parties.

I hope you enjoyed these ideas. If you would like additional help to implement any of the ideas that I shared with you today or would like more ideas, please contact me today.

It is my wish that you all have a wonderful October!

If you do not already subscribe to receive our free dental marketing and practice management ideas right to your inbox each month, please do so today. Feel free to tell your dental friends about Hayden Consulting. ~Thank you!

Great opportunity to talk about the importance of protecting precious smiles with mouthguards. Consider hosting a mouthguard clinic in your office. Reach out to local schools and sports team. Use your social media sites to promote Youth Sports Safety Month.

Community Spirit Days 1-30 –

Look for ways and create opportunities to be involved with your community this month.

Events – Share local community events on your social media sites.

Host a:

Spring Perennial Plant Exchange

Book Drive

Canned Food Drive

Aluminum Can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House

Free Stuff – Using your social media sites, post a list each day of 4+ random names OR local business names, anyone with those names or that work at the listed businesses can come into the office on that day only (during office hours) for a FREE gift (toothbrush, floss, lip balm, cookies, etc). Change up the names/business and prize for each day. Have a sign in the office so that your patients can notify their friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors about the free offer. Posting this on your social media sites will allow people to share the post, which will help to get your office name out in front of more people (potential patients). If you’re listing local businesses, be sure to write on their social media site pages and/or tag their business.

Team Building – Volunteer as a team to help out a local charity

National Pet Month – People love to talk and brag about their pets. Use this week to ask your friends/patients on your social media sites to post pictures of their pets. Post pictures of your team members pets. Turn it into a contest: the pet with the most likes wins a special treat.

Give-away: hand out dog treats packaged with your office information. Even if a patient doesn’t have a dog surely they know someone who does…great way to get your office name out there!

If you like these ideas, be sure to sign up to receive more FREE Dental Marketing Ideas right to your email inbox each month. Now, on to our focus…

Use this as an opportunity to educate your patients and folks in the community. With a goal of bringing in new patients.

Your offer is this:

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month

our office is pleased to offer FREE Oral Cancer Screenings

in a National Effort to END ORAL CANCER!

How can you promote your offer?

Send a Press Release to local newspapers & TV stations.

Create a one-page flier for your patients to share with their friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors. (If you need a sample OCS flier, I’m happy to send you one. Email: bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com)

Smoking and drinking are the most common risk factors, but that is changing.

The biggest risk factor now is the sexually transmitted virus called HPV, the same virus that can cause cervical cancer.

The Oral Cancer Foundation says over 48,000 people will be diagnosed with oral cancer this year alone (cause over 9,575 deaths, killing roughly 1 person per hour, 24 hours per day), the majority of those cases will be tied to HPV.

There is an epidemic of oral cancer among young people, unfortunately, due to oral sex.

Fastest growing segment of the oral cancer population are non-smokers under the age of fifty.

Additional risk factors include high alcohol consumption, the use of conventional smokeless (chewing/spit) tobacco, as well as prolonged exposure to the sun (for lip cancers).

Oral Cancer Screenings are quick and painless.

Hopefully, you are able to put into action some of these ideas for the month of April. I would love to hear how they turned out for you. Feel free to share with me any other marketing ideas you have planned for the Spring and to give this post a like. Thank you!

Have you signed up to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas that are sent right to your email inbox each month? If not, take a second and sign up. This way, you won’t miss a single idea!

If your office is planning on participating in a community health and wellness fair or expo, I have some ideas to help you make it a big success.

Health Fair settings can be challenging for a couple of different reasons.

One, there are a lot of vendors and booths/displays so you’re going to want to make sure that your display table stands out. That it draws the attention of the guests. Second, most people are there for something free. No problem for you, because they won’t leave your display empty handed.

Many wonder what they should talk about and what sort of items should they give away?

~ Rethink your Drink or How Much Sugar is in your Favorite Drink display
~ Good Foods / Bad Foods
~ Healthy Snack Idea’s
~ Power Point on a laptop/tablet/large monitor with before and afters
~ How To Demonstrations: Proper Brushing & Flossing Techniques

Keep your table neat but attractive – too much information and “stuff” will be overwhelming in that setting.

Include a Big Call to Action with a deadline: You could hand out a sheet of paper that has a special offer on it: Complimentary Oral Cancer Screening, New Patient Special or Teeth Whitening Offer. On that sheet include some of the other services you offer. Also, include your social media sites and of course all your office contact info.

Make certain that you’ll have the ability to schedule complimentary consultations and New Patient Hygiene visits right there on the spot. (Access to schedule…at the very least a copy of the schedule for the next 2 weeks.)

Very Important: Your display table must include friendly, smiling, approachable and outgoing team members. (also wearing, professional & clean attire)

Reusable Bags with your Office Information on them is a handy give-away, one that allows them to carry their free gifts in and advertise your office for you 😉 If you’re not looking to spend a lot on bags, please consider using small imprinted plastic bags so no one is fumbling with their gifts.

(If you’re wondering where you can order some of the imprinted items listed above and many others not listed, check out Bizarre Marketing. I share this particular company with you because their customer service is awesome.)

Raffle / Drawing ~

~ Electric Toothbrush
~ Whitening Pen
~ Gift Cards
~ Gift Baskets ( Themes: Dental, Family Games, Gardening, Seasonal items, BBQ, Spa – don’t hesitate to team up with local businesses for basket items)
~ Free Teeth Whitening and or $ off Dental Treatment ( NOTE: they can either check the box for which one or all that they are hoping to win. Use a full sheet of paper with prize options and large space for them to fill out their name, email, address & phone (to be used later to send nice to meet you cards).

Should you decide to use a Prize Wheel instead of Raffle/Drawing be sure to find another way to capture their information so you can follow up with a “pleasure to meet you” thank you card after the event.

Encourage attendees to “like” your office Facebook page and “follow” your office on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Perhaps you can offer some type of incentive/reward for visiting your social media sites.

Take a few minutes before and after the event to briefly introduce yourself to the other vendors and businesses at the expo. Give them a bag with some of your office freebies. This is a great opportunity to build relationships within your community.

So many ways for you to have a fun and successful health and wellness fair. Do you have any other ideas that have worked well for you? Please, share them with me.

If you do not already subscribe to receive our free dental marketing and practice management ideas right to your email inbox each month, please do so today. Feel free to tell your dental friends about Hayden Consulting. ~Thank you!

I must apologize again for posting the marketing ideas so close to the new month. I promise to have October’s ideas to you early as there are many! I have been so busy spending time enjoying these summer months with our kids. I can’t believe they start back to school in two weeks as second & fourth graders! 😦

Speaking of Back-to School …

Dental Marketing Ideas for September

Sports Safety & Healthy Smiles

Feature Mouthguards ~ With football season starting, remind your team to ask parents about getting athletic mouthguards for their children who play sports. You could do promotional pricing for the month on mouthguards.

Another idea: Consider putting up a promo board in your reception area or a flyer on the table about tips for moms & dads when packing school lunches… Most kids don’t brush their teeth after lunch when they’re at school. Parents need to ensure that the foods in their kids’ lunch boxes aren’t promoting tooth decay. List for them healthy school snack/lunch foods & beverages. Also, list foods & beverages that they should avoid. This would also make a great board on your office Pinterest account.

Both the information about mouthguards and healthy school snacks/food make for great social media posts.

Here are 4 more ways to Help your Team and Patients

Smile in September!

September 13th – International Chocolate Day. Um, anything chocolate will do on this day. 🙂

September 19th – International Talk Like A Pirate Day. A good excuse to be silly in the office and on social media.

Self Improvement Month – Feature Cosmetic dentistry

Happy Cat Month – Invite your friends/patients on social media to post pictures of the cat(s). People love showing off and talking about their pets.

So there you have it, some fun marketing ideas for the month of September. Please, be sure to stay in touch with me and keep me updated on any of the ideas that you use and if you have some thoughts on how to take these suggestions to the next level or just ways to improve on them I want to hear from you!

If you would like me to work with your office to create a specific marketing campaign for the month of September or would like further ideas on how to implement the Sports Safety & Healthy Smiles campaign, please contact me today at bhaydenconsulting@gmail.com

As always, I wish you all a fantastic & productive month!

Looking ahead to October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month, National Apple Month, Halloween Candy Buy Back and more! Oh, and don’t forget October starts your final quarter so start now figuring out your production, collection and new patient goals for October, November & December. Remember to include your entire team in your plans!

Marketing your dental practice is like planting seeds. Some seeds sprout right away, others may take a while. You may have written some seeds off as a loss and when you least expect it, there it sprouts and produces beautiful results. And some may sprout where you don’t even remember planting.

” If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not. Speak then to me.”

~ William Shakespeare

What are your marketing seeds? Everything that you do, everything that the patient (and potential patient) sees, hears & feels.

Take some time today and think about what you are planting & producing. Plant weeds and you’ll get more weeds.

Look at your practice through the eyes of your patients and potential patients.

Look closely at yourself, your team, the exterior, and interior of your building, all office systems, your lab, sterilization procedures, website & social media sites, marketing materials, marketing programs and the patient experience. Weeds can sneak in very easily if you don’t work to prevent them or if you ignore them when they are small.

Two especially dangerous weeds: Poor telephone call systems and poor team member attitudes.

Look at your referral sources & patient retention , this will be a key indicator as to the quality & quantity of the seeds you and your team are planting. Who is referring the new patients and who isn’t? And why? Are you known as the go to dental expert in the community? If not, why? Do you provide your patients with a consistent & quality experience over the telephone? What about during & after their visit? Are you exceeding their expectations? Are you and your team members involved in the community? Are you tracking, acknowledging and rewarding those that refer to you?

Again, everything matters!

Don’t give up, don’t ignore any of the areas we talked about – you might not see results right away but impressions are being made, seeds are being planted. You never know where and when they will take root and bloom!!

Bring in some fresh eyes if you need to, ones that will see, hear & feel what you are missing, and ones that will give you the push and help to get rid of any weeds and plant seeds of greatness daily & consistently!

Please take a moment and subscribe to receive my complimentary dental marketing and practice management ideas right to your email inbox each month. Feel free to share with your friends. Thank you!